BOGGS MOUNTAIN, Calif. – The Friends of Boggs Mountain Trailwork Day will take place this Sunday, Dec. 13.

The work will begin at 9 a.m. behind Cobb Mountain Elementary School, 15895 Highway 175.

The group will meet at the parking lot of the school, which is located about half a mile north of the Cobb Hardester's on Highway 175.

The mostly unscathed section of Boggs Mountain is located behind the school, and they will work on repairing erosion-prone trails.

The work is expected to take place for two to three hours. Bring water, work gloves, and shovel or McCleod if you have one. There also will be tools available.

For more information, please contact David Thiessen at 707-295-5972.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – An open supportive discussion on coping during the holidays after the death of a loved one is being offered in Middletown on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

The discussion, hosted by Hospice Services of Lake County, will take place from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Middletown Senior Center, 21256 Washington St.

The presentation will be facilitated by Kathleen Bradley, LPT, bereavement counselor.

It will provide insight into the grief process and tips for coping with feelings of loss during the holidays.

All presentations are open to adults and free of charge.

For more information and to RSVP call Hospice Services of Lake County at 707-263-6222.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – There will be no Green Party Meeting in December due to the holidays.

The next meeting will be Jan. 17, 2016, when the movie "Fix It" will be shown.

This movie deals with the broken health insurance system in the United States.

The group will meet from 4 to 7 p.m. at Round Table Pizza, 821 11th St. in Lakeport. There will be no host food and drink.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

Call 707-263-3391 for more information.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – PG&E is prepared for the upcoming storm, and the company urges its customers to be prepared as well.

Be prepared before storms arrive:

· Have battery-operated flashlights and radios with fresh batteries ready. Listen for updates on storm conditions and power outages.

· If you have a cordless phone or answering machine that requires electricity to work, have a standard telephone or cell phone ready as a backup.

· Keep your cell phone charged, and have a portable charging device handy.

· Freeze plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator/freezer during an outage to prevent food from spoiling.

· If you have a stand-by generator, notify PG&E and make sure that it’s installed safely to avoid risking damage to your property and endangering PG&E workers who could be working on power lines in your neighborhood. Information on the safe installation of generators can be found on our website at www.pge.com/generator.

If outages occur:

· Candles pose a fire risk. Avoid using them during a power outage. If you must use candles, keep them away from drapes, lampshades and small children. Do not leave candles unattended.

· If your power goes out, unplug or turn off electric appliances to avoid overloading circuits and fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal.

Before calling PG&E about a power outage:

· Sign up for PG&E’s outage alerts, which provide customer updates via phone calls, texts or emails. Go to your My Energy account or click on www.pge.com/outages for more information.

· Check to see if other neighbors are affected. This will confirm if an outage is impacting the neighborhood or just your residence.

· To report an outage and to get the latest information on outages in your neighborhood, call PG&E's Electric Outage Information Line at 1-800-743-5002. Note that PG&E’s phone lines may become very busy during major storms.

Downed power lines:

· Stay away from downed power lines. Treat all downed power lines as if they are energized and extremely dangerous. Keep yourself and others well away from them and immediately call 911, then notify PG&E’s 24-hour emergency and customer service line at 1-800-743-5002.

· If your vehicle comes in contact with a downed power line, stay inside. The safest place is in your car as the ground around your car may be energized. Honk the horn, roll down the window and yell for help. Warn others to stay away as anyone who touches the equipment or ground around the vehicle may be injured. Use your mobile phone to call 911. Fire department, police and PG&E workers will tell you when it’s safe to get out of the vehicle.

· If there is a fire and you have to exit a vehicle that has come in contact with downed power lines: Remove loose items of clothing. Keep your hands at your sides and jump clear of the vehicle, so you are not touching the car when your feet hit the ground. Keep both feet close together and shuffle away from the vehicle without picking up your feet.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. – December 8, 2015 – In conjunction with Older Driver Safety Awareness Week, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is releasing its newest research into how the advanced automotive technology can keep older drivers safely on the road.

This is vitally important because giving up the keys can have serious consequences for the health and mental well-being of older adults.

“The foundation found that older drivers who give up driving are almost two times more likely to experience depression and nearly five times as likely to enter a long term care facility,” said Cynthia Harris, AAA Northern California spokesperson. “The new automotive technology can help older drivers remain independent and safely behind the wheel for many years.”

Foundation researchers examined 16 advanced vehicle technologies and determined that six can provide value for older drivers by potentially reducing crashes and improving the comfort of driving:

· Forward collision warning/mitigation: These systems warn drivers of potential crashes or automatically applying the brakes, improving reaction time by up to 20 percent for seniors.

· Automatic crash notification: These systems automatically alert emergency services in the event of a crash, allowing quicker response and care to an older driver.

· Park assist with rearview display: This technology includes backup cameras and obstacle-detection warning systems, both of which can help prevent crashes when pulling out of a parking space, easing driver stress and workload.

· Parking assist with cross-traffic warning. These systems utilize radar sensor technology to notify drivers of crossing vehicles when backing out of a parking space, and on some vehicles, the systems automatically can apply the brakes to prevent a collision.

· Semi-autonomous parking assistance: This system takes over steering while moving into a parallel parking space, reducing stress and makes parking easier for older drivers.

· Navigation assistance: Turn-by-turn GPS systems can provide older drivers with feelings of increased confidence and allow them to remain focused on the road.

When seniors are in the market for a new vehicle they may want to consider the potential long-term benefits of advanced safety technologies.

AAA has updated its Smart Features for Older Drivers brochure to include 2015 makes and models.

This resource can help seniors identify vehicles with features that optimize their comfort and safety. Comprehensive information on senior driving, including the safety brochure can be found at http://seniordriving.aaa.com/ .

The foundation research also found that older adults can extend their years of driving by adopting practices that reduce their risk on the road. Avoiding challenging situations such as driving at night, in bad weather, during rush hour traffic, in unfamiliar areas or on the highway can improve older drivers’ safety.

Research also reported that seniors who successfully continue to drive are less likely to engage in distracting behaviors while driving nor do they speed or frequently change lanes, all of which further reduce crash risks.

Driving is a skill that can be continually improved. AAA’s RoadWise Review, for example, is an online classroom course that can help seniors get the most out of their vehicle while reducing risk to themselves or their passengers. RoadWise Review can be found at http://seniordriving.aaa.com/ .

Established by AAA in 1947, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, publicly-supported charitable educational and research organization.

Dedicated to saving lives and reducing injuries on our roads, the foundation’s mission is to prevent crashes and save lives through research and education about traffic safety.

The foundation has funded over 300 research projects designed to discover the causes of traffic crashes, prevent them and minimize injuries when they do occur.

Visit www.AAAFoundation.org for more information on this and other research.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Come and enjoy the “decked halls” at the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum for a Christmas Marketplace featuring local artists selling their handcrafted goods in the barn on Saturday, Dec. 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Santa has promised to be at the event and will be roaming the grounds and joining hayrides with the kids, weather permitting. Bring your cameras as Santa will be available for photos with kids of all ages at the museum’s main house.

Handcrafted goods will include jewelry, bath and beauty products, butcher blocks, up-cycled fabrics, wood creations, photography and more.

The last Ely Marketplace was held on Oct. 4 in conjunction with the Fiddlers’ Jam, with all donations given to the Lake County Wildfire Relief Fund created by North Coast Opportunities and Mendo Lake Credit Union. The October event was attended by several hundred people.

This December event will help promote the growth of the Ely Stage Stop Blacksmith Shop and further the interaction of the local community with the history of Lake County and the Ely Stage Stop.

Join the museum volunteers and docents for a fun-filled day on the museum grounds with Santa. Pick up that perfect last minute holiday gift and support Lake County artists.

The Lake County Historical Society’s Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum is located at 9921 Highway 281 (Soda Bay Road), Kelseyville.

For more information, check out www.elystagestop.com , www.lakecountyhistory.org ,  www.facebook.com/elystagestop or call 707-533-9990, during museum hours, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.